Ronda Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Object of the Game
• How to Play
  • Making a Trick
• Announcements
  • Ronda
  • Tringa
  • Bouahed, Bkhamsa, Baachra
  • Missa
  • L9a3a (Last Hand)
• Scoring
• Elaborate Version
  • First Deal
  • Bonus and Counter-Bonus on the Last Trick

Components

Ronda is played with a 40-card Spanish deck of four suits, 10 cards per suit:

• Dheb (Gold): 10 cards
• Khel (Batons): 10 cards
• Copas (Cups): 10 cards
• Sbada (Swords): 10 cards

The cards are ranked as follows:

1. As (Ace)
2. Dos (Two)
3. Tres (Three)
4. Quatro (Four)
5. Cinq (Five)
6. Six (Six)
7. Sept (Seven)
8. Sota
9. Cabal
10. Rey (King)

The source's list skips 8 and 9. The rank names are transcribed as printed in the source.

Object of the Game

The game is played by two, three or four players. Each player plays individually, even in four-player games.

The goal is to score 21 or 41 points before your opponents. Points are scored in two ways: by making a trick (prise) or by making an announcement (annonce).

How to Play

Cards are dealt in turn by the players at the table. The creator of the table is the first to deal.

An accroche announces which player deals the cards and which player has the lead. (The source uses the word "accroche" here, which is unclear in this context. It is transcribed as printed.)

Four cards are placed on the table, and three cards are dealt to each player. Players take turns, counterclockwise, each placing one card on the table until the three cards are used up. Cards are then dealt again, three to each player. The game ends when all 40 cards have been dealt.

Making a Trick

On your turn, either:

• You have in your hand a card matching the one on the table, and you take that card. You may also take the cards that follow it in sequence. For example, you hold a 2 and the table has 2, 3 and 4: you take all three cards.
• Or you have no matching card, and you place a card on the table.

Announcements

Announcements are possible when a player holds a Ronda or a Tringa. Other announcements are possible when a player makes a Bouahed, a Bkhamsa, a Baachra or a Missa.

Ronda

When a player has two identical cards in hand (for example the 5 of Swords and the 5 of Gold), they make a Ronda. This is shown by a yellow star placed above the player's name, and it earns the player one point.

If several players have a Ronda, the strongest Ronda collects all the points.

(The source writes "toile jaune" and "toile rouge". The word is read as "étoile", a star, since the accent was lost in the text layer.)

Tringa

When a player has three identical cards in hand (for example the 5 of Swords, the 5 of Batons and the 5 of Gold), they make a Tringa. This is shown by a red star placed above the player's name, and it earns the player five points.

If several players have a Tringa, the strongest Tringa collects all the points.

A player who has a Tringa automatically takes the cards of the Ronda.

Bouahed, Bkhamsa, Baachra

When a player plays a card (for example an Ace) and the next player plays the same card (another Ace), that player makes a Bouahed.

If a third player still has the same card, they make a Bkhamsa.

If a fourth player still has the same card, they make a Baachra.

The player who played last and picked up the Ace or Aces receives the points: 1 point for a Bouahed, 5 points for a Bkhamsa, 10 points for a Baachra.

Missa

When a player has a card and finds the same card on the table, plus the cards that follow it, they take all the cards on the table and make a Missa.

For example, a player plays a Sota (10), and the table holds a Sota (10), a Cabal (11) and a Rey (12). The player who makes the Missa takes all of them and receives 1 point.

L9a3a (Last Hand)

When the very last card is played, there may still be cards on the table. The player who made the last trick takes the whole table.

(The source spells this "L9a3a ou Dernière main", meaning "last hand". The transliterated name is transcribed as printed.)

Scoring

Points are scored during play when announced:

• Ronda: 1 point (or 2, 3 or 4 when several players have made a Ronda)
• Tringa: 5 points (or 10, 15 or 20 when several players have made a Tringa)
• Missa: 1 point
• Bouahed: 1 point
• Bkhamsa: 5 points
• Baachra: 10 points

To find who wins at the end of the game, count the points won through announcements and the number of cards won.

• 2 players: points are counted for cards won beyond the 20th card won. If you won 25 cards during the game, you score 5 points in addition to your announcement points. If you won 15 cards, you score no points from cards.
• 3 players: points are counted for cards won beyond 13 cards.
• 4 players: points are counted for cards won beyond 10 cards.

The game is won by the player who has accumulated the most points.

(The source gives both a target of 21 or 41 points in the Object of the Game and a winner decided by the most points at the end. Both are transcribed as printed. The source does not say how the 21 or 41 target is chosen.)

Elaborate Version

These rules are the same as the simple version, with a few differences. The main difference is a bonus, or counter-bonus, awarded for the last trick (L9a3a). There is also a difference in the first deal.

First Deal

In the elaborate version, each player is dealt four cards in the first deal (three cards in the simple version). The table starts empty (four cards in the simple version).

After that, cards are dealt in threes, as in the simple version. The game then proceeds normally under the simple-version rules.

(The source repeats the heading of this paragraph twice in its text layer. The duplicate is removed here.)

Bonus and Counter-Bonus on the Last Trick

Differences arise when the last trick is taken. These differences can award points (a bonus) or give points to the opponent (a counter-bonus).

In the elaborate version, only the dealer must take the last trick.

• If the dealer does not take the last trick, the opponent scores 5 points.
• If the dealer takes the last trick with a King (Rey), the dealer scores 5 points. The cards the dealer wins are theirs.
• If the dealer takes the last trick with an Ace (As), the opponent scores an extra 5 points. The remaining cards on the table, taken by the dealer, still go to the dealer.
• If the dealer takes the last trick with any other card (not an Ace or a King), neither the dealer nor the opponent receives a bonus. The remaining cards on the table, taken by the dealer, still go to the dealer, as in the simple version.